For 50 years, Old World Wisconsin has been immersing visitors in the history of our state. The 600 acre site gives visitors a look into the daily lives of Wisconsin’s 19th century immigrants. It features over 60 original historic buildings from across Wisconsin. Historically accurate interpreters demonstrate farming, cooking, trades, and what daily life was once like in Wisconsin.
Old World Wisconsin was the state's bicentennial project. In the 1950s and 1960s, an architect noticed historic immigrant homes and farms disappearing across the state. The architect partnered with a preservation advocate and brought the idea of Old World Wisconsin to the Wisconsin Historical Society, which operates the site today.
Doug Raney is the director of Old World Wisconsin. "They had to figure out how to get all of these historic buildings from across the state to Eagle here in the Kettle Moraine State Forest," he explains. "So they went around the state and they carefully documented all of these different buildings and farms and then moved them and then reconstructed them right here in Eagle in the Kettle Moraine State Forest."
Old World Wisconsin has added several new experiences in the last few years, including a brewhouse in 2022, an original 1906 rural tavern and traditional beer garden in 2025, and a new welcome center in May.
"Our mission really truly does stay the same and that is really preserving and sharing Wisconsin immigrant history and heritage. But the visitor experience has really changed quite a bit over the last five to seven years," Raney says.
To celebrate this progress, Old World Wisconsin will host a 50th anniversary party coinciding with the country's 250th over 4th of July weekend. It will include a parade, music, readings of the Declaration of Independence, historic baseball, a pie eating contests, ice cream making demonstrations and more.
And although Schlitz has ended production, you can get a glass of Schlitz beer at the event.
"We are working with a local brewer here in the area and we are going to be bringing back the Schlitz recipe. We're going to rename it for our special 50th anniversary as Old World Wisconsin Gold and it's going to be available starting on July 3rd. We're super, super excited about that," Raney says.
Other places to visit across Wisconsin to learn about our state's history:
- Circus World in Baraboo
- Wisconsin Maritime Museum in Manitowoc
- The Mining & Rollo Jamison Museum in Platteville
- Frank Lloyd Wright Trail
- The Bois Brule River in Douglas County
